Exodus 9
9
The Plague on Livestock
1Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Go to Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, “Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 2Do not refuse to let them go. Do not keep holding them back. 3If you refuse, my powerful hand will bring a terrible plague on you. I will strike your livestock in the fields. I will strike your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. 4But I will treat Israel’s livestock differently from yours. No animal that belongs to the people of Israel will die.” ’ ”
5The Lord set a time for the plague. He said, “Tomorrow I will send it on the land.” 6So the next day the Lord sent it. All the livestock of the Egyptians died. But not one animal that belonged to the Israelites died. 7Pharaoh searched and found out what had happened. He discovered that not even one animal that belonged to the Israelites had died. But he was still very stubborn. He wouldn’t let the people go.
The Plague of Boils
8Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “Take handfuls of ashes from a furnace. Have Moses toss them into the air in front of Pharaoh. 9The ashes will turn into fine dust over the whole land of Egypt. Then painful boils will break out on people and animals all over the land. Their bodies will be covered with them.”
10So Moses and Aaron took ashes from a furnace and stood in front of Pharaoh. Moses tossed them into the air. Then boils broke out on people and animals alike. 11The bodies of all the Egyptians were covered with boils. The magicians couldn’t stand in front of Moses because of the boils that were all over them. 12But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn. Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.
The Plague of Hail
13Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Get up early in the morning. Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, “Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me. 14If you do not let them go, I will send the full force of my plagues against you this time. They will strike your officials and your people. Then you will know that there is no one like me in the whole earth. 15By now I could have reached out my hand. I could have struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16But I had a special reason for making you king. I decided to show you my power. I wanted my name to become known everywhere on earth. 17But you are still against my people. You will not let them go. 18So at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm ever to fall on Egypt in its entire history. 19Give an order now to bring your livestock inside to a safe place. Bring in everything that is outside. The hail will fall on all the people and animals that are left outside. They will die.” ’ ”
20The officials of Pharaoh who had respect for what the Lord had said obeyed him. They hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. 21But others didn’t pay attention to what the Lord had said. They left their slaves and livestock outside.
22Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Reach out your hand toward the sky. Then hail will fall all over Egypt. It will beat down on people and animals alike. It will strike everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” 23Moses reached out his walking stick toward the sky. Then the Lord sent thunder and hail. Lightning flashed down to the ground. The Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24Hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in Egypt’s entire history. 25Hail struck everything in the fields all over Egypt. It fell on people and animals alike. It beat down everything growing in the fields. It tore all the leaves off the trees. 26The only place it didn’t hail was in the area of Goshen. That’s where the people of Israel were.
27Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “This time I’ve sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord has done what is right. I and my people have done what is wrong. 28Pray to the Lord, because we’ve had enough thunder and hail. I’ll let you and your people go. You don’t have to stay here any longer.”
29Moses replied, “When I’ve left the city, I’ll lift up my hands and pray to the Lord. The thunder will stop. There won’t be any more hail. Then you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30But I know that you and your officials still don’t have any respect for the Lord God.”
31The barley was ripe. The flax was in bloom. So they were both destroyed. 32But the wheat and spelt weren’t destroyed. That’s because they ripen later.
33Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. Moses lifted up his hands and prayed to the Lord. The thunder and hail stopped. The rain didn’t pour down on the land any longer. 34Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail and thunder had stopped. So he sinned again. He and his officials became stubborn. 35So Pharaoh was stubborn. He wouldn’t let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.
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Exodus 9: NIrV
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Exodus 9
9
Fifth Plague: The Pestilence. 1Then the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh and tell him: Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to serve me. 2For if you refuse to let them go and persist in holding them, 3the hand of the Lord will strike your livestock in the field—your horses, donkeys, camels, herds and flocks—with a very severe pestilence. 4But the Lord will distinguish between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that nothing belonging to the Israelites will die. 5And the Lord set a definite time, saying: Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land. 6And on the next day the Lord did it. All the livestock of the Egyptians died,#Ps 78:48. but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. 7But although Pharaoh found upon inquiry that not even so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites had died, he remained obstinate and would not let the people go.
Sixth Plague: The Boils. 8So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Each of you take handfuls of soot from a kiln, and in the presence of Pharaoh let Moses scatter it toward the sky. 9It will turn into fine dust over the whole land of Egypt and cause festering boils#Boils: the exact nature of the disease is not clear. Semitic cognates, for example, suggest the Hebrew root means “to be hot” and thus point to some sort of inflammation. The fact that soot taken from the kiln is the agent of the disease would point in the same direction. See further Lv 13:18–23; Dt 28:35; 2 Kgs 20:7. on human being and beast alike throughout the land of Egypt.
10So they took the soot from a kiln and appeared before Pharaoh. When Moses scattered it toward the sky, it caused festering boils on human being and beast alike. 11Because of the boils the magicians could not stand in Moses’ presence, for there were boils on the magicians as well as on the rest of the Egyptians. 12But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said to Moses.
Seventh Plague: The Hail. 13Then the Lord spoke to Moses: Early tomorrow morning present yourself to Pharaoh and say to him: Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to serve me, 14for this time I will unleash all my blows upon you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me anywhere on earth. 15For by now I should have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with such pestilence that you would have vanished from the earth. 16But this is why I have let you survive: to show you#To show you: some ancient versions such as the Septuagint read, “to show through you.” Cf. Rom 9:17. my power and to make my name resound throughout the earth!#Rom 9:17. 17Will you continue to exalt yourself over my people and not let them go? 18At this time tomorrow, therefore, I am going to rain down such fierce hail as there has never been in Egypt from the day it was founded up to the present. 19Therefore, order your livestock and whatever else you have in the open fields to be brought to a place of safety. Whatever human being or animal is found in the fields and is not brought to shelter will die when the hail comes down upon them. 20Those of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried their servants and their livestock off to shelter. 21But those who did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left their servants and their livestock in the fields.
22The Lord then said to Moses: Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that hail may fall upon the entire land of Egypt, on human being and beast alike and all the vegetation of the fields in the land of Egypt. 23So Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the Lord sent forth peals of thunder and hail.#Ps 78:47; 105:32–33. Lightning flashed toward the earth, and the Lord rained down hail upon the land of Egypt. 24There was hail and lightning flashing here and there through the hail, and the hail was so fierce that nothing like it had been seen in Egypt since it became a nation. 25Throughout the land of Egypt the hail struck down everything in the fields, human being and beast alike; it struck down all the vegetation of the fields and splintered every tree in the fields. 26Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, was there no hail.
27Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time! The Lord is the just one, and I and my people are the ones at fault. 28Pray to the Lord! Enough of the thunder#Thunder: lit., “divine voices,” “voices of God,” or the like. and hail! I will let you go; you need stay no longer.” 29Moses replied to him, “As soon as I leave the city I will extend my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.”
31Now the flax and the barley were ruined, because the barley was in ear and the flax in bud. 32But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they grow later.
33When Moses had left Pharaoh and gone out of the city, he extended his hands to the Lord. The thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down upon the earth. 34But Pharaoh, seeing that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, sinned again and became obstinate, both he and his servants. 35In the hardness of his heart, Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.
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